Creatine may be known as the stuff of body builders and guys with more muscle than brains, but it could give cyclists an edge as well. According to a small study from the University of Oklahoma, Creatine supplements may increase power without major weight gain.

Researchers had sixteen male college students on either a placebo or 20 gram per day supplement of Creatine for five weeks. The study participants were then tested before and after the Creatine loading for their electromyographic fatigue threshold (EMG FT). The fatigue tests, which essentially measured the workload the subject could maintain for extended periods of time, had them repeating 60-second sprints four times.

After the five weeks, the Creatine group had increased their EMG FT by 13.65 percent, measured as an average of 175 watts, at first, to 198.8. At the same time, the placebo group's EMG FT dropped seven percent.

The scientists also measured the before and after weights of the subjects. The placebo group remained about the same, and while the Creatine group increased weight, after the five weeks they only packed on an average of 1.1 pounds.

Study author Ashley Walter, M.S. cautions, however, that because of the small sample size, the increase in power was not great enough to be published as scientifically significant.